CSQ Installs a HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press

Company becomes first Italian printer to use

press to print newspapers on standard newsprint.

Dario De Cian, Managing Director, CSQCentro Stampa Quotidiani Spa (CSQ), of Erbusco in Lombardy, Northern Italy, has purchased an HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press to enable it to take advantage of a growing demand from newspaper publishers for full-colour digital production and localised inserts.

The company primarily prints newspapers and inserts for a local client base. During the summer months it also prints for a number of foreign newspapers when the tourist season is at its peak. Outside this season, conventional print runs of these newspapers for the tourist areas of the Mediterranean are no longer economically viable.

"We have always adopted cutting-edge technology right from the start of our business," explained Dario De Cian, MD of CSQ. "Now we are adopting the latest digital technology so we can offer our overseas clients the opportunity to publish all year round."

CSQ said that because the new digital press offers them no variation in quality, it will print the tourist titles conventionally from June to September and use the HP T230 press for the rest of the year, using the same newsprint substrate. An added benefit is that the newspapers delivered will be that day's edition and not the previous day's, which was formerly the case.

"Another reason for this investment in digital was to meet the demands of our Italian customers looking for short-run solutions for local editions," De Cian continued. "Now, thanks to the HP T230, we can print short runs digitally from 500 up to 2000 copies to localise sections of their publications and integrate them with conventionally printed sections."

This new service can be used to insert information for a specific city or area, or produce variable editions of a property newspaper based on local distribution requirements.

"We chose the HP T230 inkjet web press after nine month’s analysis of all available technologies," said De Cian. "The company chose this solution because it allows us to achieve a level of quality equivalent to traditional offset. Thanks to the HP Bonding Agent technology used in the web printing process, it is also the only solution on the market that completely eliminates the problem of show-through on the lightweight and porous papers of 45gsm typically used for newspapers.

"With the HP T230 we can use the same paper as on the web offset presses and work to the same formats. The Hunkeler inline finishing system will also enable us to profitably use the press for the three services that we plan to offer initially: printing and folding newspapers, covers and flyers. The system is integrated with our other finishing equipment which will enable us to automatically combine offset and digital products ready for despatch," De Cian concluded.

The HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press can print at speeds of up to 122 m per minute, with a scalable web width up to 558 mm and a print width of up to 520 mm. HP maintains that the press was designed for performance; the result is that it can print up to 50 million mono and four-colour letter-sized equivalent images per month.

"At CSQ, we see how newspaper publishers and print service providers can change the business model for existing products," said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP. "HP Color Inkjet Web Presses can help publishers make information as immediate and relevant as digital media through cost-effective short runs, localised editions and printing for local markets anywhere in the world."